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Malaria pigment paralyzes dendritic cells
Centre for Clinical Vaccinology and Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Oxford, OX3 7LJ, UK
Journal of Biology 2006, 5:4 doi:10.1186/jbiol37
Published: 12 April 2006Abstract
The capacity of malarial infection to suppress the patient's immune responses both to the parasite and to other antigens has long puzzled researchers. A prime suspect, the parasite-produced pigment hemozoin, has now been clearly shown to mediate immunosuppression by inhibiting dendritic cell activity.
